We are deeply saddened to learn that Ai Yiying, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away on the morning of January 9 at the age of 97.

The men of the Ai family were killed, Leaving only widows behind

In 1937, Ai Yiying and her family lived in Xuxiang Village, Nanjing. After Nanjing fell, several Japanese soldiers entered the village, "dragging seven men at once: father Ai Renyin, two uncles Ai Renbing and Ai Renlin, two elder cousins Ai Yisheng and Ai Yirong, and the uncle-in-law (and his son) with the surname Ping." She clung to her father’s leg, pleading, “Dad, you can't leave.” Her father turned around and gently reassured her, “Be good, Dad will be back soon!” Those were the last words he ever said to her. 

The next morning, villagers brought the devastating news that something terrible had happened to the Ai family at Pingjiagang. The women wailed in grief. "

The scene was horrific! My father's cotton undershirt was soaked in blood." Looking at her father’s lifeless body covered in blood, Ai Yiying cried out, "Dad, you loved me the most."Among the seven people, her uncle Ai Renlin suffered an especially brutal fate—Japanese soldiers lifted him up and threw him to his death. Only her cousin Ai Yirong barely survived and was eventually rescued. 

Their family was left with only women, earning them the sorrowful title of 'The Ai Family Widows'."Ai Yiying recalled, "The women struggled to survive while raising the children. People called us 'The Ai Family Widows'—the words alone broke my heart."

The Names of Ai Yiying’s Slain Relatives Are Engraved on the ‘Wall of Tears’ at the Memorial Hall

Her mother was forced to abandon her newborn while fleeing

Ai Yiying recalled: "My mother and I hid in the mountains during the day and only returned home at night. Less than a month after my father died, my mother gave birth to a child on the mountain. She couldn't keep her alive, so she had to abandon her. At that time, my mother was always carrying a big quilt, in which my younger brother was wrapped. My sister and I followed behind, and we hid in the mountain every morning and went home at night every day."

After that, Ai Yiying's mother took her brother and sister to the refugee area of Jiangnan Cement Factory and lived there for more than two months. In March 1938, when the situation gradually settled, they returned home.

Life Only Improved After the Founding of New China

After spring arrived, the bodies of the victims were finally buried with the help of elderly villagers and outsiders. "It was months before my father’s body was wrapped in a reed mat and buried."

Ai Yiying recalled that three Japanese soldiers often went to the village, usually coming at noon and leaving at three or four o’clock in the afternoon. "Young women hid in the mountains, and they returned home to do farm work after Japanese soldiers left. Sometimes they did farm work in the dark--we need food for a living."

"We were young at that time, and my younger sister helped people herd cattle, accepting only food as payment, without asking for money. My mother and I worked for another family for three days in exchange for a man from that family coming to work at our home for one day. Men were needed for plowing fields and transplanting rice seedlings. Whenever someone came to help, we served them our best dishes. When I was 18, I married into the Huang family in Qilinmen. At that time, my brother was only 13 and had already started working alongside the adults."

After the founding of New China, Ai Yiying's life changed drastically. "In 1958, I started working at a chemical reagent factory and retired in 1980."

At the age of 86 years, she went to Japan to attend a testimony assembly

"In December 2014, at the invitation of China War Victims' Testimony Assembly Invitation Board, 86-year-old Ai Yiying traveled to Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo, and other cities in Japan to attend testimony assemblies for Nanjing Massacre survivors. 

She said: "I told the Japanese people about the hardships I personally experienced. I want to tell them the truth of history."

Ai Yiying (left) holding her survivor certificate

Before she passed away, she said: "I hope young people work hard and contribute to our country."

Ai Yiying often came to the Memorial Hall to participate in activities before her death. She said: "I hope that future generations will remember Chinese people's sufferings and hardships in the Nanjing Massacre, remember history, doing their part to contribute to the country."

On the Double Ninth Festival in 2024, Ai Yiying (second from left) presented certificates to the third group of Historical Memory Inheritors of the Nanjing Massacre

On December 1, 2024, Ai Yiying paid respects to her relatives in front of the Memorial Hall "Wall of Tears"

Most of Ai Yiying's family members have joined the effort to preserve and pass down the historical memory of the Nanjing Massacre, keeping this family history alive. Though she has left us, this memory will be passed down through generations. May she rest in peace.